The recorded legacy of Albert Wolff is one of the most sought-after by collectors. Of Dutch parentage, but born in Paris, Wolff was something of a polymath: pianist, organist, conductor, composer, and had a long career in recording studios beginning in 1920. His first recordings for Decca, starting in the summer of 1951, were a complete Carmen (with Suzanne Juyol), a Manon (with Janine Micheau) as well as several French orchestral suites and individual pieces. By reciprocal arrangement with RCA that Decca had at the time, the abridged version of Giselle was issued on RCA in 1959 and had to wait fourteen years for its appearance on Decca, when it appeared on its ‘Eclipse’ imprint in 1973. This collection brings together balletic works by Glazunov, Ravel, Weber and Falla, together with Liszt’s Second Hungarian Rhapsody.
GLAZUNOV: The Seasons
LISZT: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
RAVEL: Boléro; Alborado del gracioso
ADAM: Giselle (abridged)
WEBER (arr. Berlioz): Invitation to the Dance
FALLA: Dances from ‘El sombrero de tres picos’
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
Albert Wolff
Recording Producers: John Culshaw (Glazunov); Victor Olof (Liszt); Ray Minshull (Ravel, Weber, Falla); Michael Williamson (Adam)
Balance Engineers: Roy Wallace (Glazunov); James Brown (Liszt); Kenneth Wilkinson (Ravel, Weber, Falla); Ken Cress (Adam)
Recording Locations: La Maison de la Mutualité, Paris, France, September 1954 (Liszt), May 1956 (Glazunov), October & November 1957 (Adam); La Maison de la Chimie, Paris, France, November 1958 (Ravel, Weber, Falla)
‘beautifully warm and clear orchestral sound … a most excellent recording’ (Liszt) Gramophone
‘delicate, fanciful, and beautifully played’ (Adam) Gramophone